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T O P I C R E V I E W

KSCartist

Presented here are the new, original space patches I will be releasing for sale in 2013. In a departure from past offers, I am taking pre-orders for all of these patches at one time.

Please contact me for images and order forms. To avoid these designs from being copied for unauthorized sales, I am not posting images of patches here. I will be happy to e-mail you order forms that show the artwork. KSCartist@gmail.com

The 2013 series includes:

Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) patch depicts the first test flight of the Orion spacecraft. The mission is to test the thermal protection system or "heat shield" during a high altitude, high speed re-entry. The Constellation "Orion" is shown representing the name of the spacecraft. The other stars represent the legacy of manned space exploration: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, ASTP and the Space Shuttle.

One Year ISS Expedition patch illustrates the mission goal of working aboard the ISS for an entire year, "one solar orbit." The Sun and Earth — the focus of the design are beautifully rendered. Mars, the ultimate goal of manned exploration waits in the distance.

1970's Space Shuttle Program Proposed Emblems (2) In the 1970's, the Apollo Program was winding down to a close. We were no longer going to the moon, but there seemed to be a focus on becoming better stewards of the Earth. A large part of that focus was the upcoming space shuttle. It promised to make flying into space almost routine. The door was opening for many non-traditional astronauts to fly. It was a time of optimism. Now looking back in hindsight, the Shuttle Program did not live up to its expectations, but we did learn so much we did not know about actually living and working in space.

When I discovered this artwork I was amazed that they were created almost exactly two years apart. The second design was drawn two days after Enterprise was presented to the world — on my 20th birthday. The patches will be 4.5 inches in diameter and fully embroidered with an iron-on backing.

STS-1 Proposed Emblems (2) The coming first flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia provided me with an opportunity to design a new patch. While these designs are very raw, they are the only art I recovered from my files. The designs I submitted to Bob Crippen were more polished.

One design pays tribute to the all Navy crew. The motto: "for the Earth" was borrowed from a Frank Kelly Freas Skylab 1 draft design. It's a neat coincidence that the Expedition 34 crew came up with a similar motto for their patch: "Off the Earth – For the Earth" 33 years later.

STS-95 Proposed John Glenn PS patch In 1998 it was announced that John Glenn would finally have an opportunity to fly in space again. It ignited interest in the shuttle program not seen since STS-1. I wanted to pay tribute to his career by combing elements from both flights. I submitted this idea to Senator Glenn via the Astronaut Office. It was rejected because he felt it wouldn't be appropriate to wear any patch except the mission patch.

Proposed STS-114 Patch In 2003 after the Columbia tragedy, I knew the mission of STS-114 would not fly as originally manifested. At the time this design was created, Atlantis was going to be the orbiter to fly. I removed the Expedition crew from the patch. This mission wasn't going to rotate ISS crews.

I illustrated the shuttle launching into the orbital plane of the ISS. The Sun cast a shadow behind the Earth and in that shadow I placed the Constellation Columba (the Dove) from the STS-107 patch to pay tribute to the Columbia crew.

I submitted this idea to Steve Robinson that year when the Astronaut Band came to play at Kennedy Space Center during the Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction weekend. The crew considered it but ultimately rejected it because they had already begun to alter their patch design to reflect their new mission.

Proposed STS-120 Patch I met Pam Melroy in 1997 when she came to speak at the 30th Anniversary of the Apollo 1 tragedy at the Space Mirror at Kennedy Space Center. When Pam was named CDR of STS-120 she invited me to submit art for consideration. It was close but I lost out to another artist. Obviously I impressed the crew with my work because I would go onto work with three of them on their next assignments.

In this design I pay tribute to the last crews of Challenger and Columbia by the use of a double Roman Numeral "C". The stars represent the shuttle and station crew members and the two structural changes to the ISS accomplished during this flight are in gold.

Proposed STS-119 Patch In 2004 I worked with John Phillips on the Expedition 11 mission patch. It was the culmination of a lifelong dream. When John was assigned to STS-119 I asked if I could submit art for this patch. He responded that I could but that he wasn't the patch person, Steve Swanson was and his daughter was working on a design. I took a chance anyway and submitted this design. The crew made the right call because Swanson's daughter created an awesome design.

Proposed STS-122 Patch This was a design I enjoyed creating, as I felt it captured the mission goals extremely well — the rotation of ISS crew members Dan Tani for Peggy Whitson and the installation of the Columbus Lab module. The Spanish caravel below and the shuttle above represented the vehicles used to explore the "New World" some five centuries apart. The only thing I did wrong was spell Hans Schlegel's name wrong. A word of advice to future artists: when you send art to a crew, make sure their names are spelled correctly.

Proposed STS-125 and 400 Patches Drew Feustel was John Phillips support astronaut during Expedition 11. That's how we were e-introduced. A super guy and luckily for me, one with a sense of humor. I submitted the STS-125 design to Drew for consideration. A word of advice to future artists: when you send art to a crew, make sure their names are spelled correctly. I thought I had checked the spelling carefully enough but Drew called me on it. A lesson I have not forgotten.

At the landing of STS-119 I ran into Chris Ferguson. His 126 crew were assigned to be the Launch on Need (LON) crew should the 125 crew need help. He asked me to submit a design for a Rescue Mission patch. While he liked the Saint Bernard theme from an earlier LON crew, he felt it wasn't right for a crew patch. This design might very well have been used had STS-400 been required to fly.

Proposed STS-128 Patch I didn't have any personal contact with this crew. This design was really a shot in the dark but I enjoyed creating it anyway. I always learn something from every design. In this patch I wanted to try a different point of view. I imagined I was on the zenith of the ISS and saw the shuttle docking with the station. The moon and Sun are in the distance but could not possibly been seen the way I illustrated them. The border colors were a tribute to CDR Rick Sturkow who is a Marine. I did get to work with Kevin Ford a couple of years later.

Proposed STS-130 Patch This design is an example of Jorge Cartes at his best. Jorge and I had been working together ever since STS-126. Sometimes I would take lead and sometimes Jorge would. This one is based on a design Jorge created. I helped with layout and color. We had also created and submitted another design very much like the official 130 patch but this project is intended to share alternative original art.

I had tried to get a shuttle crew to use Roman Numerals for years. I never succeeded. But this design incorporated them in a whole new way. The overall shape is the RN "C". The blue, white and red "X's" make up the mission number CXXX. The Cupola is the focus of the design but we added the ISS crew waving goodbye. At the time this was created mission 130 was going to bring up Ron Garan.

Proposed STS-135 Patch When the final shuttle crew was announced, Jorge and I worked up a few designs to submit to the crew. While not overly confident we knew that they were familiar with our work and would give us serious consideration.

This design celebrates the shuttle program and became the basis of my "Farewell... and Thank You" commemorative patch. The fourteen double stars on the left pay tribute to the last crews of Challenger and Columbia. The six stars on the right represent each orbiter and pay tribute to those who cared for them and flew on them. The four stars in the center represent this crew.

Rex Walheim sent me an email saying they adopted our blue background and red vector for the official patch. His wife created the 135 crew patch.

I know many of you may be wondering "what about the Freedom 7 and Faith 7 50th anniversaries?" I am working with the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation on these projects. The goal is to release those in May.

The EFT-1 and "One Year ISS Expedition" designs will be unveiled in Colorado Springs at the Space Foundation's National Space Symposium. These will not be limited edition; I'll keep making them as long as there is interest.

The other patch designs will be limited to only 200 patches each. They are not "official" as other designs were chosen by the crew but in each case, I really enjoyed creating them and thought you would enjoy adding them to your collections. I will sign and number each one. They will be offered at a first come first serve basis. So if you want patch number one, be the first to send in your paid order.

For those of you outside the USA, I will be happy to combine shipments so you only have to pay for shipping once. I'll do that for any of you in fact.

You have from today through May 27th to contact me to place your order. That gives you nine weeks. I'll be tracking orders and when a design is sold out, I'll notify everyone that it is no longer available.

Any patches remaining after May 27th will be offered to Brett Anderson at The Space Store and Joe Fricano at SkyForce Patches for sale. I'll price them so they can retail them at a similar price point. Both Brett and Joe have been loyal supporters of my work.

Please contact me for order forms as I'll need them to insert with your package so I don't overlook any patches you are purchasing.

Thank you all for your interest, loyalty and support. It means a lot. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions.

p51

Any chance we can see what these patches will look like before ordering, or at least what the basic designs look like?

Robert Pearlman

Tim explained above:

Please contact me for images and order forms. To avoid these designs from being copied for unauthorized sales, I am not posting images of patches here. I will be happy to e-mail you order forms that show the artwork.

p51

Whups, sorry, I read through that twice and didn't catch that!

KSCartist

I am writing this to provide some answers to questions sent to me. If your question isn't answered in this message please do not hesitate to contact me.

If you order one each of every patch offered, the total amount due is $294.

I can and will ship them all together with the signed certificates in one package - a USPS Priority Mail medium Flat Rate Box.

USA domestic is $ 14.00 including a tracking number. International is $60.00

I realize trying to complete each form and return them to me is difficult, especially for international customers. Therefore you can email a detailed list like this:

2013-1 EFT-1 2 ea. One Year 1 ea. $21.00

2013-2 Proposed Space Shuttle set 1 ea. $40.00

I just need to have a list of what you ordered so I can use it like a packing List when I ship your order.

I am allowing everyone until May 27th to place their order. I will then place my order with the embroidery company. Production will be four to five weeks. I expect to start shipping orders no later than July 4th.

To show my appreciation for your support, there will be a special gift included in the package.